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Unexpected growth costs Murfreesboro schools $1.5 million

Mealand Ragland-Hudgins
4:02 p.m. CDT August 27, 2014

Students color in teacher Rebekah Tate’s second-grade class at John Pittard Elementary Aug. 6. With 997 students, the school is still near capacity despite Murfreesboro City Schools’ efforts to rezone 300 students to Reeves-Rogers Elementary.
(Photo:
John A. Gillis/DNJ
)

MURFREESBORO – Murfreesboro City Schools has hired 22 new teachers to accommodate more than 400 unexpected students, a district official said.

Enrollment has increased by more than 5 percent so far this year, said Gary Anderson, the school system’s finance and administrative services director. As of Tuesday, the district’s enrollment stood at 7,927, an increase of 433 students from the end of the past school year.

At Tuesday night’s Board of Education meeting, Anderson said he studied enrollment numbers for the past 25 years and noticed a spike in enrollment each year a new school opened.

“This is over 5 percent. This is the most the district has ever grown,” he told the board. “Every time we open a new school, we draw new students. We did the rezoning, but Reeves-Rogers filled up and John Pittard (Elementary) filled back up.”

A district-wide rezoning plan sent 300 students from John Pittard Elementary on DeJarnette Lane to the Reeves-Rogers campus on Greenland Drive. However, enrollment at John Pittard Elementary is 997, about 70 students fewer than at the end of last school year.

“Obviously, if we have this many new students, we have to hire new teachers. We’ve hired 22 already and we could hire more,” Anderson said. “We’re still growing every day.”

The district built its budget for the 2014-15 school year based on 7,600 students and 526 classroom teachers.

So far, the unexpected growth has forced the district to spend an additional $1.55 million on salaries and benefits for the new hires, as well as textbooks and library services. All but $488,000 comes from the district’s fund balance.

Schools Director Linda Gilbert said when she initially saw the enrollment figures, she expected to see students still reporting to their old schools.

“Once we counted the students in the seats, we knew they had to be coming from somewhere else,” Gilbert said.

“They’re coming because there are jobs here,” Anderson said.

Vice Chairwoman Nancy Rainier reminded the board that numbers could be even higher next week.

“Children in northern states don’t start school until after Labor Day, so this number could go even higher,” she said.

Board member Collier Smith said while visiting Northfield Elementary earlier this week, one class had six new students.

“Two of them had come from other schools, but the other four were from outlying counties or other states,” she said.

The district’s participation in a U.S. Department of Agriculture program that provides lunch to all students at no charge could be a contributing factor as well, said board member Jared Barrett.

Rutherford County Schools have seen some growth, but most of that has come from middle and high schools, district officials said.

Anderson said the state provides additional funds for districts that increase student enrollment by 2 percent or more. This year’s available funds total $15 million for all 137 of the state’s public school systems. Money is awarded in January and May, he said.

Board Chairman Butch Campbell served as principal of the county’s Walter Hill Elementary during a time when enrollment would increase by 3 percent to 5 percent each year.

“I guess we can consider ourselves lucky that we haven’t had growth like this before. Growth in the county (schools) is this much and more sometimes,” Campbell said. “It’s certainly a compliment that parents want their kids to come here.”

Contact Mealand Ragland-Hudgins at 615-278-5189 or mragland@dnj.com. Follow her on Twitter @dnj_mrhudgins.

By the numbers

Murfreesboro City Schools’ enrollment has increased by more than 400 students since the end of last school year. Here’s a look at numbers as of Aug. 25.